4 truths of a gospel-centered marriage ... (with Pastor Frank Switzer)

• TRUTHS OF A GOSPEL-CENTERED MARRIAGE

1. You’re marrying an image-bearer (Gen 1 & James 3)
2. You married not a finished product but a work in progress, and YOU are also a work in progress.
   • Phil 1:6, 2 Cor 4:16, Romans 8.
   • Marriage is all three:
     • Back – to – back
     • Side by side (CS Lewis)
     • Face to face

1. Out of reverence for Jesus, submit to one-another (Ephesians 5).
2. Love God more than you love each other.

10 MOST COMMON “ISSUES” IN MARRIAGE 

1. Most spouses refuse to see themselves as the biggest problem in their marriage. 

1. The purpose of marriage is to fulfill me and make me
2. Marriage shouldn’t be hard work if we are truly “meant” for one another and we have feelings of love for each other.
3. If I am diligent to meet my spouse’s needs, all my needs will be met by my spouse.
4. Communication styles of men and women are SO different; it is a cross-cultural communication experience when husbands and wives talk to each other.
5. A healthy marriage is all three: Back-to-back, side-by-side, face-to-face.
6. Spouses are going to fight, but they don’t fight well.
7. One of the biggest problems with the Church in America is the number of sexually active singles and sexually celibate marrieds.
8. Balancing parenting with the genuine needs of the parents.
9. Married couples rarely spend enough time talking about what the future might look like ... dreaming, budgeting, planning, brainstorming, & encouraging each other.

Book recommendations: 

1) The meaning of marriage - Timothy Keller

2) Theories of human communication - Stephen W. Little John